Category Archives: Indian Laws Explained

I’ve written a lot about the Procedure for Mutual Consent Divorce and Contested Divorce in my previous articles. A lot has been written about the Grounds for Divorce as well. However, there is another important topic which often isn’t talked about much. That is, territorial jurisdiction for filing a Divorce Petition. Since most marriages in India are governed by the Hindu Marriage Act, therefore for the sake of convenience, I shall explain the provision contained in the Hindu Marriage Act.

The easiest way for me to explain territorial jurisdiction for the purpose of filing a Divorce Petition in India is to tell you about the time when a young couple named Pankaj (real name changed for privacy) and Nisha (real name changed for privacy) came to me. Pankaj met Nisha while he was enjoying a vacation in Goa during the autumn of 2015. He was a Delhite and lived with his parents in Green Park. Nisha belonged to Mumbai. She had been living in Bandra with her parents since her childhood. Continue reading →

“They say marriages are made in heaven. But so is thunder and lightening.” — Clint Eastwood

At times, despite our best efforts, life takes a turn for the worst. We may have wanted different things from life, but life’s got its own plan as well. A bad marriage is something which nobody hopes for, but at times, that’s exactly what we are given and forced to face head on.

I’ve already talked about Procedure for Mutual Consent Divorce in one of my earlier articles. Today I shall talk about Procedure for Contested Divorce as per Hindu Marriage Act in India.

Of course, the easiest way to obtain a Divorce is by Mutual Consent of the husband and wife. However, at times, the circumstances are not that easy, the situations are not that easy, and the other spouse itself may not be easy to handle as well. In that case, the only option left is to apply for a Contested Divorce under the Hindu Marriage Act.

A spouse cannot file for Contested Divorce citing any reason it thinks is good enough to legally separate from his/her partner. There are specific grounds laid down under the Hindu Marriage Act, and only under these grounds can a Contested Divorce be filed in Court. Continue reading →

“I’m so miserable without you, it’s almost like having you here.” -Unknown

Marriages are hard. Divorces…even harder. Nobody enters a marriage thinking about a divorce in the end. If some are unable to cope with the harsh realities of marriage, the only viable option in front of them is to approach the Court and seek legal separation by way of mutual consent divorce.

The most common question I get asked from those thinking about divorce is:

“What is the exact procedure for mutual consent divorce in India?”

I got so tired of explaining the same thing to so many people, I thought I might as well write a brief articles about it over here. This article explains the procedure in brief for obtaining mutual consent divorce as per Hindu Marriage Act. In the near future, I would also be writing an article about the procedure for obtaining a contested divorce as per Hindu Marriage Act.

So from where does mutual consent divorce begin?

Well, it all begins at your home. Yes, at your home and not in a Court.

Opting for a mutual consent divorce is a completely voluntary by both the parties.

There may be numerous reasons due to which a couple may decide to part ways and legally split from each other. However, in a mutual consent divorce, the reasons for obtaining divorce are irrelevant, and the important thing is that the decision for divorce has been taken jointly by both the parties with mutual understanding and agreement.Continue reading →

FIR which stands for First Information Report seems like a simple process, but in reality is a lot trickier. There is a lot more which meets the eye. I’ve already written an articles regarding the basics of FIR.

Now the law says that the Police must register a FIR for a cognizable offence. I’m sure you must have heard of situations where one person threatens to file a FIR against another person. As a result, that other person literally loses his appetite and sleep thinking whether a FIR has in fact been registered against him or not, and if that is the case, then what are the allegations against him. He needs to know this so that he can take suitable action before he is [possibly] arrested by the Police.

Up till now, finding out whether there is a FIR against you or not was a very tricky affair. In all honesty, it required knowing somebody in the concerned Police Station who may give you a tip regarding the same. But what about an average citizen with no connections, but is afraid that he may be implicated into a false case. Those who do not have high profile connections with police or lawyers, were simply living in fear and wondering whether there is a FIR against them or not.

Well obviously, the law cannot stop anybody from filing a complaint against you, and the Police has to register a FIR and proceed accordingly. Whether the complaint was genuine or false is something to be discovered during investigation.

Now the real concern over here was how do you ascertain whether a FIR has been registered against you or not, and if yes, then what are the contents of that FIR.

Today there is an online solution to most [if not all] of your everyday requirements, which really begs the question, why the Police department too can’t go online so that an average citizen is able to interact with the Police online and even track the status of his complaint online. Continue reading →

At the outset, I wish to make it clear that I won’t go into the details pertaining to Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act (“NI Act”) which comes into play whenever is a cheque is dishonoured. It gives you a legal remedy of approaching the Court and initiate Criminal proceedings against the person who issued you the cheque. I’m assuming that you know the basics of this provision and are here to find out whether the same is applicable to other reasons for dishonour of a cheque or not. Hence I’ll dive straight into the other complexities attached with it.

Now the question is whether dishonour of a cheque due to “stopped payment by drawer” or “account closed” or “signatures do not match” would constitute an offence under Section 138 of the NI Act?

Before we go any further, it is imperative that we know what exactly the laws says when a cheque is dishonoured. Section 138 of the NI Act reads as under:

138. Dishonour of cheque for insufficiency, etc., of funds in the account:

Where any cheque drawn by a person on an account maintained by him with a banker for payment of any amount of money to another person from out of that account for the discharge, in whole or in part, of any debt or other liability, is returned by the bank unpaid, either because of the amount of money standing to the credit of that account is insufficient to honour the cheque or that it exceeds the amount arranged to be paid from that account by an agreement made with that bank, such person shall be deemed to have committed an offence and shall, without prejudice to any other provisions of this Act, be punished with imprisonment for a term which may be extended to two years, or with fine which may extend to twice the amount of the cheque, or with both.

Provided that nothing contained in this section shall apply unless—

(a) the cheque has been presented to the bank within a period of six months from the date on which it is drawn or within the period of its validity, whichever is earlier;

(b) the payee or the holder in due course of the cheque, as the case may be, makes a demand for the payment of the said amount of money by giving a notice in writing, to the drawer of the cheque, within thirty days of the receipt of information by him from the bank regarding the return of the cheque as unpaid; and

(c) the drawer of such cheque fails to make the payment of the said amount of money to the payee or, as the case may be, to the holder in due course of the cheque, within fifteen days of the receipt of the said notice.

Explanation.— For the purposes of this section, “debt or other liability” means a legally enforceable debt or other liability.

On a careful reading of the above provision, it seems that a ‘dishonour’ of cheque would constitute an offence only if the cheque is returned by the bank ‘unpaid’ either because the amount of money standing to the credit of the drawer’s account is insufficient to honour the cheque a.k.a. ‘insufficiency of funds’ or that the amount exceeds the amount arranged to be paid from that account by an agreement with that bank.

Now with that in mind, does it mean that if a cheque is dishonoured due to reasons other than insufficient funds, then it would not be an offence under Section 138 of NI Act, and that the ‘payee’ would have to go for an alternate remedy for the recovery of his amount?Continue reading →